Ladakh literally means 'the land of many passes' . Situated in the northern most extremity of India, Ladakh lies among parallel mountain ranges running from south-east to north-west. To the north tower the stark snow clad mountains of the Karakorum and Kun Lun range separating India from Central Asia and Tibet. The stunningly awesome granite hills of the Ladakh range starts from the Indus - Shyok confluence while the drawn-out mountain maze of the Zanskar range that consists of sedimentary layered hills and aeons ago an ocean bed, stands as the dividing line between the Indus Valley and the Zanskar region. The Great Himalayan Range in its southern extremity demarcates Ladakh from the lush green Kashmir Vale and Himachal Pradesh. On its northern frontier lie the highlands of Aksai Chin and the vast Soda plains while to the west is the hauntingly beautiful Kanjit region of the Hunza valley.

Ladakh is a land that has an amazing diversity of landscapes with people residing at altitudes ranging from 2700 to 4500 metre while the nomadic...